Jacket Copy: “Sarah and Mom decide to hike to Baldhead to pick mussels. It’s Dad’s birthday, and the black, shiny shells will be the perfect surprise for him. Sarah is excited, but nervous, too. What if she slips and falls? Mom reassures Sarah and encourages her. But at Baldhead something happens to Mom, and Sarah must help her.”
Atheneum; 1st ed. edition, 1990
Ages 4 to 8, Kindergarten to Grade 3
School and Library Binding 32 pages
ISBN 978-0-027-00391-8
Illustrated by Jill Kastner
“While searching a rocky beach for mussels for a seafood dinner, Sarah's mother twists her ankle and cannot return to the spot where Sarah's father is to meet them with the car. Sarah, a seven-year-old who is working against her aversion to such nature walks, sets out to retrace their path. She finds her way across the rocks, through the woods, in the driving rain, to meet her father and arrange for her mother's rescue. The full-color landscape pictures of the seashore and sky are full of movement, color, and grandeur. The story itself is reminiscent of a family incident that is passed down with warmth among family members.”
These are the rocks I climbed to gather mussels from the cold water of Small Point Beach, Maine, where my husband has been vacationing for over fifty years.
This spectacular beach is called Singing Sands, also in Small Point Beach, Maine. Bob and I have vacationed here together for thirty-five years.
